Family gulet cruising in Turkey

There are trails of small footprints leading to the front of the boat. Follow them until you come across the large wet patch on the deck. Be quick; the Turkish sun is hot, and those footprints will dry out in a matter of minutes. The children who made them, on the other hand, won’t.

“I can tell you now, all the kids had an amazing time,” says Karyn Darley-Waddilove. She took her partner and nine-year-old daughter on a Turkish gulet cruise. There were three other families on the cruise and Karyn struggled to keep her daughter on board. “Every day she was in the water. There were diving competitions off the boat,” she says.

Be warned, kids will spend this entire holiday in the sea – as Karen found out. It’s a common phenomenon. “People who do this trips say that the kids just live in the water, from the moment the sun comes up to when it goes down,” Antony Barton, the family holiday expert at our small group adventure specialist Explore, confirms.

Family cruises on Turkish gulets run with three or four other families on board, and a friendly local crew. From the moment you step on board, the boat is your home. Just slip your shoes in the basket and get a drink in your hand, and you’ll be ready to go. There is a selection of double and twin cabins on board, which are comfortable but snug. You’ll spend most of your time out and about on deck. The average age for children on these trips is generally 13, but kids aged eight and over are welcome on board, so long as they can swim. Parents of an only child and solo parents alike will find a sociable trip like this more than ideal, and there’s no extra charge for solo occupancy if your family doesn’t fit into two twin rooms.

Turkey’s Turquoise Coast is a popular holiday spot, but you’ll find that by anchoring in quiet bays, and having a flexible itinerary, your captain will avoid most of the crowds, even in high summer. You’ll explore at a very relaxed pace, suited to the heat. Highlights in the area include Iztuzu Beach – left undeveloped so it can be a protected nesting site for loggerhead turtles – and the Bay of Kekova. Not only does the bay have glassy, crystal-clear water, but you can see Atlantis-like ruins partially submerged along the shore. These are all that remains of the ancient Lycian city of Dolciste, after it was destroyed by an earthquake. There are snorkels on board, but bring your own if you have them, and your kids are particularly keen on underwater exploration.